Author: goelaborate

A new era has encaptured the world, the digital age. Due to the rapid advances in technology, there has been an increasing amount of data being generated. In the business world today, the use of data is very influential and essential in making business decisions. When discussing data and its uses for businesses a common term is used, Big Data. This term is fairly new but the practices are ancient, yet many are unfamiliar with the concept. The world is surrounded by data ready to be analyzed and interpreted for good use, but first, there needs to be an understanding of the concept and its surrounding key components. After all, knowledge is power.

The Basics

First, there needs to be an understanding of what Data is. Data is facts or pieces of information that can be used in calculating, reasoning or planning. Now Big Data is not a software or company, but simply a term to describe the large amount of data that can be analyzed for insights and information that can lead a business to make better decisions and strategic plans.

Big data is characterized by three key terms; volume, velocity, and variety. When in reference to big data these terms take up a big meaning in the digital realm. Volume refers to the expanding amount of data being generated monthly, weekly, daily, even hourly. Companies are able to use data beyond the internet, including business transactions, social media, machine data, and sensors. Especially relevant, velocity is used to describe the increasing speed at which data streams in and is being generated. And finally, Variety describes the various forms data can exist – from numeric data, structured or unstructured texts, email, images, audio or financial transactions – data is everywhere.

Protecting Data

It is true that data is everywhere, nearly every aspect of an individual’s life has a data component that can be used for analytical observing. From the coffee bought from Starbucks to the social media pages being checked, some sort of data is being generated. With all this data there needs to be limits and precautions to ensure safety and privacy. Hence, where Data Privacy, security and governance come into play.

Data Privacy deals with the collection, protection, and distribution of personal or private information belonging to individuals or organizations. Data security concerns the protection of data from unauthorized modification, destruction or disclosure whether intentional or accidental. And finally, data governance, helps businesses maintain information and data on customers, keeping all information secure. Understanding these three terms and the policies/laws surrounding them is essential when it comes to the frequent use of data for businesses in order to avoid future complications.

As technology continues to advance and further integrate into the daily lives of users, Big data will continue to grow and maintain its force in the business world. It is nearly impossible to ignore the amount of digital information that can be used for a company to improve its standing, no longer are educational guesses and intuition enough. From the brilliant mind of W. Edwards Demming, “In God we trust, all others must bring data.”.

An online presence is important for companies to survive. Technological advancements and social media trends are keeping businesses busy in attempts to stay relevant and engaged in consumer’s lives. Facebook is one of the most popular social media sites – having over 1.9 billion active users – it is a very useful method to promote digital marketing. According to NYTimes, Facebook users spend fifty minutes of their day on the site searching through content. This gives companies a platform for millions of potential customers a day, the only thing left to do is reach out.

Simply having a Facebook page is not enough for businesses to reach their digital marketing goals. In order to gain an audience, a business must be found by the users… or the business can find them. Through the use of Facebook ads, companies are able to grab the attention of users and measure the results. Being used by over four million businesses the tool has proven to provide growth, connection and high return on investment.

How Facebook Ads Work

Facebook ads are targeted to users through demographics such as location, age, gender, and interests. It is important to reach users who are within the businesses target audience. The next step is deciding ad placement – where the ad runs. Facebook is able to show ads on any device and to be shared on Instagram and Audience Network. All this advertisement isn’t free but Facebook makes sure that it doesn’t have to be costly either! The tool lets a business to set their budget and time period for a campaign and then advertises according to the limits set. The most important aspect of Facebooks ads are the ads themselves including their format, image, and quality. The businesses are able to choose how they want their ad appearance to look whether it be a single image, a slideshow or video. The ad should be creative and well thought out.

Though, companies try to create ads catches users attention they may not always be a success. An easy way to manage and track the performance of an ad is through Facebooks Ads Manager, Power Editor or Business Manager. Each tool allows businesses to see the performance of their ad and allow tweaks to be made for improvements. The steps are easy to follow and manage to make Facebooks ads an easy step towards success.

Facebook vs Google AdWords

Though Facebooks ads are highly used by businesses worldwide it is still challenged with a major competitor. Google Adwords. Google AdWords is an advertising tool used to reach out to people through various targeting methods. It allows businesses to select keywords to help find potential customers that may be searching up services and products they provide. By being able to display ads on over two million websites and 650,000 apps it gives the opportunity to reach out to more people in several different fashions. The tool, like Facebook ads, allows the business to set a budget for their campaign. Though, they only have to pay when someone interacts with the ad – so basically when it works. There are also tools to view and manage the ads – including how many people saw the ad, activity, and the option of editing ads for improvement.

While both tools are available to all sizes of companies, Facebook ads allow for easier navigating than Google Adwords does. The average Joe can easily use Facebook Ads with no marketing experience while Google Adwords may take more training. While Facebook does not offer training in their Ads program, Google does to guide users.

It is clear to see that simply having an online presence does not do much in terms of digital marketing for a company. Therefore, it is important for businesses to reach out to users in order to build long lasting relationships and success. There is no shortage of users, they just need a bit of direction towards the right company for them. The world of Social Media advertisement is dependent upon the future of social advertisement. The tools are available to help your brand grow.

Whisper, a pretty new app that is getting a lot of attention recently is also considered to be the “anti-Facebook” of the social media world, at least according to its creator, Michael Heyward.

Anti- Facebook

Whereas Facebook is about the seemingly perfect life, Whisper is about posting anonymous secrets allowing those walls to come down. Heyward acknowledges the fact that Facebook puts a lot of pressure on being popular, having many followers, and constantly updating about your seeming perfect life. It paints a false representation of actual people in the everyday world who don’t live so glamorously.

I too find Facebook to be overwhelming sometimes as I am not a big “selfie” taker, nor do I find the time to go out much. So when my friends picture posts about what’s happening in their live currently I sometimes also wonder ‘where they get all this free time from?’ or ‘am I a workaholic?’, etc. These in your face happy life updates are actually proven to make some people psychologically depressed about their own lives.

Whisper smashes your rose colored lenses and bring you back into a reality that everyone has got embarrassing secrets. Whisper is app driven rather on the iOS and Android system, because it’s still about that easy life update feature, but there is also a website to participate in and see the gallery of confessions.

Whisper is basically a meme (i.e. image and words on it to describe a situation ironically or not), much like, confession bear, but while confession bear tends to be really dark with constant background image and an older audience. Whisper has a wide age range, a gallery of images to go with each confession and confessions range from light to dark.

Another great thing about the Whisper confession app is that it’s sole purpose is to keep you and your posts entirely anonymous by not storing your name, email, or phone numbers to be hacked or seen. And any direct likes or conversations between posters is also kept anonymous.